Pandora’s loot box: the legal ramifications of microtransactions game makers

The landscape surrounding microtransactions in video games continues to evolve at a pace outstripping the law’s ability to keep up. Just months after enduring public outcry over an extensive loot box system in Star Wars: Battlefront II, EA Games has announced a complete overhaul that eliminates the ability to purchase in-game items that impact gameplay.

Meanwhile, the Entertainment Software Regulatory Board, the self-regulating agency created by the Entertainment Software Agency, has now weighed in on the mounting controversy over microtransactions, but its response is only a new “In-Game Purchases” label on “games that offer the ability to purchase digital goods or premiums with real world currency.”